Wanted Down Under - no rose-tinted glasses

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I have been watching most (but not all) of the latest series of Wanted Down Under and it seems to me that this series has got a different angle than previously. There are no rose tinted glasses and none of the families I have seen have voted unanimously to emigrate - most are voting to stay in the UK.

In the main I think this is because there is no longer a big killing to made in the property market, houses there seem expensive and lots of people have voted the UK better for housing !! That would never have happened last year. However I think the producers have deliberately been sending people to view some pretty grotty or inappropriate houses. The family in Adelaide this week who chose the Coast option were shown a very tired and uninspiring house in Glenelg, and a house in Aldgate (coast ??). One family in Melbourne, with a toddler and where the man was going blind, were sent to a couple of 2 storey homes, one with an open-plan staircase with no hand rail ! Not suitable at all They also seemed to have picked a high proportion of people with health issues - is this just to make for more controversial TV ?? It's still compulsive viewing but will probably put some people off making the move.

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I think thats the crunch, realistic expectation!!! We have ended up with the same mortgage as in the UK and gone back to 25years from 20years on the mortgage, but its worth every penny for the wonderful location we now live.

Be sensible with your dreams and everything over and above that becomes a bonus!

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I have been watching most (but not all) of the latest series of Wanted Down Under and it seems to me that this series has got a different angle than previously. There are no rose tinted glasses and none of the families I have seen have voted unanimously to emigrate - most are voting to stay in the UK.

In the main I think this is because there is no longer a big killing to made in the property market, houses there seem expensive and lots of people have voted the UK better for housing !! That would never have happened last year. However I think the producers have deliberately been sending people to view some pretty grotty or inappropriate houses. The family in Adelaide this week who chose the Coast option were shown a very tired and uninspiring house in Glenelg, and a house in Aldgate (coast ??). One family in Melbourne, with a toddler and where the man was going blind, were sent to a couple of 2 storey homes, one with an open-plan staircase with no hand rail ! Not suitable at all They also seemed to have picked a high proportion of people with health issues - is this just to make for more controversial TV ?? It's still compulsive viewing but will probably put some people off making the move.

I can remember reading something about this on another forum..........the company responsible for filming WTU.....have been under pressure from the Uk government to try and put and out some negative spin on Oz.

This is in a bid to try and slow down the exodus of Brits from the DarkSide.

As in the furst series virtually all of the ppl on the program wanted to or did settle here in Oz.

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Guest jimnali

Guest jimnali

It just looks to me that the programme makers dont listen to the familiea wants and needs at all. The other day the family had a £200k budget, and they showed them 1 on budget, 1 at £280k and 1 at £300k!!!!!!!

Yesterday in Sydney the couple wanted a new build, and they where shown 3 period properties, all at the top end of there budget, even though the estate agent told them that new builds were a lot cheaper in that area.

I can definetly see how they could be trying to put people off, is that why they got rid of Nadia Whatsername as well? :pshe came across as so much more genuine (imo)

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Guest BAZnDAF

Guest BAZnDAF

We have noticed too that the wants and needs of the family are ignored, the episode where they were shown a property well over £100,000 above budget was rediculous.

Like the one where the scottish couple were looking at NZ, lol, and they thought it would be nice and sunny!!! there is only one reason a country is lush and green! and thats rain and plenty of it., and they were there in NZ winter too.

Can the government really make a TV company put a negative spin on its programs?

We'll still watch it though, its an addiction, like checking the online application status every day!

Barry

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Like yourselves we watch it when we get in from work and can't believe how negative it all is and the properties there showing are usually well out of the budget and remit of what the people are looking for. I'm thinking of not watching the rest of the shows.

Moira & John

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Guest jimnali

Guest jimnali

Like yourselves we watch it when we get in from work and can't believe how negative it all is and the properties there showing are usually well out of the budget and remit of what the people are looking for. I'm thinking of not watching the rest of the shows.

Moira & John

We keep saying that too, but then its, "ok we'll just have a quick look............................":biglaugh:

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Guest BAZnDAF

Guest BAZnDAF

Exactly, how can you make a decision on a country when you have been out for one day, worked for one day with one employer, and seen three houses of which 2 are over budget!

has anyone else noticed that the presenter sometimes mentions the three options, Coast, City, and Country, and then says "we decided to give them the city option", are the couples not given the option anymore? we have noticed this on a few shows.

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Guest smoki

Guest smoki

Hi I have to agree I thought the programme was very poor and did not show the real adelaide. You only have to look on realestate.com to see much better houses for half the prices the ones they were being shown and in much more appropriate areas.

I though the channel four programme was much better and I used to enjoy this show.

There were quite a few errors in the programme to as they mentioned something in £ which should have been in $ - very poor quality I am sure and not really acceptable for the BBC. This needs improving in both the editing and the underlying research. These are the areas which have changed and not the city of adelaide. We were there in October and saw some really good houses for good prices. The programme really doesn't tell us anything.

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Yep, I totally agree, infact last series I even thought the UK govt were trying to put people off going. We were asked to fill the application form in after I emailed them last year, we didnt get picked and I think its coz we actually have our visa and are definatley going!!

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Guest soggy

Guest soggy

things are going well here, we are working hard and working long hours but running a coffee shop/cafe/snackbar or what ever I have? is not rocket science;), if you can get the right shop and can put in the hours you can make money, but if you start paying others and taking time off most of your profit disappears:arghh:($18.3per hour plus super, 1 hour a day for five days a week = about $5000 a year out of your profit, lots of students here though:D), I would say it took about 3 or 4 weeks to learn 50% of what you need to know, about 3 months and your 75 % of the way there and after 6 months 95% the last 5% may take a while because you always have new things to learn.

we have only recently been getting a bit of time to ourselves nearly a 8 months on but have learned loads, no regrets.

Simon

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Guest seayork2002

Guest seayork2002

I won't say what i think about these shows as I did on another website and it didn't go down too well. All I would say to people do your own research before you go on these shows or move to another country so you know a bit more about what to excpect

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Guest soggy

Guest soggy

Oooopsss!, Sorry Simon, didn't mean to offend anyone, like yourselves, who have done the same!

Good on yer for making it work up to now, hope you continue to make it a success!

Just that I know how hard it all is.

Been in the trade a long time, and had my own business,( loads of outside catering and buffets as well), and know sometimes it is a thankless, tireless job.

Will call in and have a coffee when we come over, 25th February.

No chance of a job is there?? ( only joking )!!

Take care,

Sue David and Sam.

Hi, don't worry I don't get offended easily, it is not easy to go into that business without experience (or with it )but if you are prepaired for long hours and lots of work it is possible. For the first few months I was working 13 to 15 hours a day and my wife about 10 now I only work about 10 or 11 and somtimes get an hour or two off during the day and my wife works just 6 or 7 hours, a little less on Saturdays and on a Sunday once we have done the shopping at the market and dropped it off at the shop we get the whole afternoon to ourselves, we are starting a new business soon so we may lose Sunday afternoons:wacko::arghh:.

Simon

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Hi, don't worry I don't get offended easily, it is not easy to go into that business without experience (or with it )but if you are prepaired for long hours and lots of work it is possible. For the first few months I was working 13 to 15 hours a day and my wife about 10 now I only work about 10 or 11 and somtimes get an hour or two off during the day and my wife works just 6 or 7 hours, a little less on Saturdays and on a Sunday once we have done the shopping at the market and dropped it off at the shop we get the whole afternoon to ourselves, we are starting a new business soon so we may lose Sunday afternoons:wacko::arghh:.

Simon

Out of interest Simon, do you think the programme portraited you as 'you'?

I have not seen the episode yet, my friend in the UK is recording them for me and sending them over to me, but my mum and another friend rang us up from the UK to tell us about your episode and it seems you have certainly got people talking:chatterbox:

I think it is great you say you don't get offended easily, you have to have a thick skin when you go on these programmes. I can't stand it when people go on these programmes and then complain how it has ruined their lives, unless you have been living on mars, we all know that you go on these programmes and have to accept you may get good or bad exposure, at the end of the day we all have a choice and no one puts a gun to your head and forces people to go on these TV programmes.

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I think we need to remember to take these kind of programmes with a pinch of salt.

We know of a family that went on a similar type of programme a few years ago and they were going to start a new life in Portugal. It was a mum and dad (nearly in their 60’s) and their son, daughter in law and 2 young kids. The parents sold their bungalow and used some of the profit to buy a bar/restaurant.

The programme then did a follow up programme (as they did with Wanted Down Under) and according to the follow up everything was going well, their life had never been better and although they were working long hours their life was wonderful.

The reality now is they have all returned to the UK. They were working 16 hours a day, 7 days a week and when the parents weren’t working they were looking after the kids, so the son and daughter in law could go and run the bar. The parents wanted to sell up but the son refused and the agreement was when they went into it that everyone had to agree if they ever wanted to sell. It caused a massive rift between the parents and son and in the end the wife was close to a nervous breakdown and they returned to the UK with nothing. My friend picked them up at the airport and gave them £50 as they literally had no money. They now live in a rented house are in their 60’s still working, with no money and will never be able to afford to buy a house again. Ironically the son, daughter in law and kids then came back a while later, literally scrapped together the petrol money and packed what they could into their car and drove back to the UK from Portugal. They then went to live with their parents in their rented house.

We have lived in Adelaide for nearly 2 years and we laugh at some aspects of Wanted Down Under because the things they tell people about what salaries they will earn over here and the house they can buy for this amount of money and how long it will take to get to the city from a specific area (always underestimated) are often inaccurate. I can’t wait to watch the next lot when they arrive on DVD from the UK!!!

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Guest soggy

Guest soggy

Out of interest Simon, do you think the programme portraited you as 'you'?

I have not seen the episode yet, my friend in the UK is recording them for me and sending them over to me, but my mum and another friend rang us up from the UK to tell us about your episode and it seems you have certainly got people talking:chatterbox:

I think it is great you say you don't get offended easily, you have to have a thick skin when you go on these programmes. I can't stand it when people go on these programmes and then complain how it has ruined their lives, unless you have been living on mars, we all know that you go on these programmes and have to accept you may get good or bad exposure, at the end of the day we all have a choice and no one puts a gun to your head and forces

people to go on these TV programmes.

Hi, I did not go on the program that was someone else, I did however buy a coffee shop with no experience whatsoever.

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Guest swampo

Guest swampo

There are still bargains to be had in the property market if you are prepared to look for them. The housing market in the UK is down in the doldrums, no one has money to move home and that's why the houses are dirt cheap at the moment. Here the housing market is still relatively boyant, even though the recession is hitting a bit now.

Yes, the cost of living e.g food is around the same as the UK but is generally much better quality. Anything to do with motoring is a complete rip off. But... this is a DIFFERENT country so you live and pay what has to be paid accordingly. I can understand folks thinking twice about coming over here at the moment as the UK is in such dire straits it is hard to make the sums work out properly like they did perhaps 1-2 years ago.

We hoped to go morgage free, I hoped to go part time, the reality is we have a morgage (much, much smaller than in the UK and over a much smaller period of time) and I am having to go full time as part time jobs are hard to come by. However, we still think that it was worth all the trouble to get here, wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, people are friendly and pleasant and we can plan that in 3,5,8 weeks time we will have a BBQ or go to the beach with reasonable certainty it won't p** down with rain.

Yes, Australia is not for everybody but it is for some of us. Always make sure you sums and your research really well before commiting.

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This mornings program I thought was pretty good, they were so realistic about the cost of living in Adelaide, a good insight for those of us ready to make the move.

The houses were lovely and the guy got offered a job with a salary higher than his in the UK, good on him, thats quite rare.

Really enjoyed todays.

Always turn off at the relative part though, cant handle it!

I agree that today's program was better. They actually showed them some nice houses and the whole family voted Australia !

However I would disagree with a job in Prospect being the country option (more like City) and if the Crows job was based at West Lakes I wouldn't really call it the city option (more like Coast)!. I also don't know how it would go down with the locals having a pom with no knowledge of the game working for the Crows in such a public facing job. Most Crows fans (and Port) are pretty fanatical. I've recorded the program for my husband to watch when he gets home. Being a Crows fan and an Aussie it'll be interesting to see his reaction....